Antiques Roadshow comes
to Huntsville home
Wednesday February 6, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
While channel surfing one night Pamm Griffin got the inspiration for an event at Muskoka Landing that proved to be a huge success for residents at the Huntsville long-term care home.

Griffin, the home’s activity co-ordinator stumbled across an episode of Antiques Roadshow, a long-running program where people bring vintage furniture, household gadgets and art to conventions for appraisal.

While the Jan. 18 event didn’t feature appraisals, it was a learning experience for the residents, families and staff members who participated.

“It was a really neat experience for everybody,” says Griffin.

The activity room was set up with the antiques placed on tables in the middle so all the residents had a good view. Some of the 26 residents who attended showcased items from their rooms, while family members brought in antiques from home.

A family member started the event by giving a presentation on the articles he had brought. This gave residents an opportunity to discuss what the objects were and how they were used.

Some of the items brought to the event included a butter churner, oil lamps, a washboard, photographs, jewelry, books, tablecloths, quilts, clothes and a vintage baby carriage.

While most events at the home last about an hour, the Antiques Roadshow went on for 90 minutes, Griffin says.

“(Residents) just wanted to stay there and look at the stuff,” she adds. “It ran a lot longer than expected because they loved it. It’s definitely a program that we would consider doing again next year.”

Griffin says the program was beneficial to residents on many levels, from visual to emotional to cognitive. Residents also took time to explain the objects to staff members, as well as to other residents, she adds.

“It was also wonderful because residents were educating their peers,” Griffin says.

Resident Katie Seligy enjoyed the event, adding she’d like to see it repeated next year.

Seligy, 91, says what she enjoyed most about the event was seeing the amount of research the activity staff did to find out as much as they could about the articles being displayed.

“They could talk about each item, so that made it very interesting,” she says.

One resident even helped a family member learn more about some of the items they had brought — especially antique farming tools.

“This gentleman doesn’t come down to a lot of (activities) but he came down to this program and he named off most of the items there that nobody else knew about,” says Griffin. “It was almost a resident-led program because they were educating everyone.”